Marketing Degrees

The mantra for marketing professionals around the world has long been the four Ps: Product, place, price and promotion. In contrast to the ever more dynamic environment around us, these are the factors a company can control when selling their product, idea or service. Modern marketing moves far beyond the classic idea of selling a product regardless of need. In today's environment companies need the knowhow, perceptiveness and willingness to change according to what consumers want and require.

Marketing is an increasingly international discipline. Due to the high influence of factors such as culture, politics, legislation and demographics, it is often necessary to adapt the marketing mix to the country/region the product or service is to be sold in. Many marketing courses today make room for such knowledge and give at least an introduction to the way of thinking that is necessary to see the big picture together with the details to form the perfect marketing mix.

A common misconception is that marketing is simply the promotion of goods and services. This is the most visible branch of marketing, but promotion alone will not sell a product. It is far more important to provide a product that is actually wanted by the market. The product, idea or service offered must fit the wants and needs of consumers - not only in price but also in their perception of the product - how it looks, how it is promoted and where it can be bought.

Careers in Marketing

A career in marketing can take you into any number of careers with one common theme. This theme is the need to understand the requirements of the customer and taking ownership of making your generic product or service fit into the consumer's wants and needs. This can be done in a number of ways, and may direct your career somewhat differently. Examples of marketing careers are: Market research, product and brand management, product promotion, product development and public relations. What these careers have in common beyond the consumer focus, is a relatively high competition on the job market. These are popular jobs, and many of them are also quite sensitive to the economic environment. Most sensitive perhaps, is the area of promotion, which is often the first area within most companies to see a cut back when times get tough.

Studying Marketing

Marketing is offered at just about every university with a management department or business school around the world. As the marketing discipline requires a good understanding of such a wide variety of factors, bachelor degrees in the field are often offered in combination with other subject such as economics, language or psychology. Marketing is a common area of study for master's degrees. For a career in the field, a broad range of experience and knowledge is often appreciated, and a first degree in another field is generally seen as something positive. Some master's courses, especially in the United States are given as part of an MBA, where it may be necessary to complete the GMAT test for admission. This test has become a common prerequisite for many business schools worldwide, and is used to ensure the quality of candidates regardless of where and at what school they have completed their previous study. The test is rigorous, and may require several attempts before attaining the required results necessary for admission to the best schools. In some countries, especially the UK clean marketing masters are widely available. These are often slightly specialized in an area such as international marketing or service marketing. These degrees most often do not require the GMAT test, but instead want proof of a completed bachelor's degree with good results.

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